The Awakening
by Valefore
Summary: A Knight-Errant comes of age and is dragged into a civil war in a fight to reunite the Republic .R&R please. New chapter uploaded! The Steel Wolves and Sphere battalion have come to a showdown, who shall win?
1. Genesis

**Genesis: Awakening**

            The year was 3132, the Inner Sphere was at peace; the Houses had followed suit to the Republic of the Sphere's policy and war was, for some time, a distant memory. Then one day, eighty percent of all HPG stations in the Republic stopped working. Chaos ensued and the once peaceful Republic was torn into several factions. Torn by old loyalties, greed, vengeance and ambition, the Republic's only hope lay in the Paladins, Knights and Knights-Errant of the Sphere. Here, I present to you, one such individual. His name is Leon Diaz.

**Hyborian**** continent, Port Edward**

**Towne, Prefecture III**

**Republic of the Sphere**

**June 26, 3133**

            "Leon, reinforcements are needed here at sec.4A." barked the comm. unit into Leon's _Ryoken__ II_ heavy 'mech. 

            He replied, "I'm coming over there, hold the line!" The 'line' was a Republic of the Sphere battalion, the last stand against another assault from Bannson's Raiders.

            Leon's lance made up of a _Spider_, _Pack_ _Hunter_ and a _MiningMech_ MOD, came into the battle and raised hell as they opened up with everything on the Raiders. Leon ran the _Ryoken__ II_ through a street with metal fists at the ready.

            He was astounded at the carnage of the battle, infantry from both sides were facing off in hand-to-hand combat and even some of the 'mechs had given up ranged fighting in favor of brawling each other to death with metal-shod fists. He saw a _Centurion_ crumple into a raging wreck as a _FireStarter_ let loose its hellish blaze upon the medium 'mech. An M1 _Marksman_ tank rammed itself into a _Koshi_, a last ditch effort to hurt the light 'mech. He could swear there was a bout between a _MiningMech_ and an _AgroMech_ as chainsaw met chainsaw releasing red sparks of fury.

            His anger turned into action as he ran his 'mech into the fray. The first unlucky recipient of his ire was an _AgroMech_, which tried a vertical slash with its left arm. It went down as the _Ryoken_ _II_ punched at the torso of the 'mech causing it to fall down onto its back, its pilot unconscious. 

            Leon turned to face a _Condor_ tank, which was firing its auto cannon Mk-V at him, imbedding shells into the armor of the _Ryoken_ _II_'s shoulder as it tried to maneuver behind the heavy 'mech. Leon back-pedaled his mech into the vehicle and sent the misshapen vehicle careening into a building and out of the battle as its hover equipment failed to compensate for the force of the 'mech's kick. 

            Leon only then noticed on his sensors that a duo of _ConstructionMech_ MODs was bearing down on him at full speed, melee weapons buzzing and auto cannons blazing. Their inaccurate fire caused most of the shells to impact elsewhere besides Leon's 'mech but the _Ryoken__ II_ shuddered as a few rounds got through.

            "Damn it, they're too close to dodge in time." Came Leon as he let loose a dozen LRMs each onto the oncoming enemies. The _ConMech_s, try as they might, couldn't avoid all of them and armor plates flew in every directions as the missiles slammed into the 'mechs. 

            Moments later, several groups of depleted uranium shells from a trio of _DI_ _Schmitt_ tanks joined the LRMs and added their own kinetic force to the salvo. The _ConMech_ MODs were reduced to slag in no time, their lifeless hulks crashing into the street, their pilots failed to eject.

            Leon belatedly noticed that those two were the last units that weren't in retreat. The Sphere army had won the third round in its bout with Bannson's Raiders but at the cost of the lives of fellow soldiers, one of them was his CO, and as the former XO, he took command just when the Raiders commenced their third assault. 

            He turned to a _Centurion_ which housed his recently promoted XO and said, "Major, ready four two-man sentries to patrol the outskirts of the city and lead the rest of the battalion back to the field base for repairs, this assault may not yet be over." 

            "Yessir!" came the reply and soon enough everyone else in the battalion was going back home to the Sphere field base established by the Republic only three weeks ago.

            When Leon got word from Intel that the Raiders or what was left of them were burning at full speed away from Towne, he sighed from both relief and exhaustion. "Finally, some rest…" He didn't finish his sentence and dozed off on his couch, exhausted and snoring the night away.

            Leon was dreaming, dreaming he was back in Fomalhaut with his family when he was only fourteen. He had been born in an upper to middle-class family living in Oanhu. He had a good home and food and other necessities were never a problem, not until his dad had taken a mistress and the finnancial situation had turned around in a matter of months.

             Everyday, the rift between his father and mother had grown larger and their fights, ever more frequent. Now, he was in his room, hearing his parents fighting about money again. He was sick of it, he didn't ask to be born in this world, and he was just born, _Wow that was a gift from God..._. Now he was shutting his ears as the screams got louder and louder. 

            He woke up with beads of sweat on his forehead in the early morning, vaguely remembering the screams of his parents. Then he started to remember more of his life before the Knights...

            ...He had entered into one of the best universities in the planet and along with studying, had taken up formal training of _Arnis_, one of the Filipino's ancient combat arts. He became proficient at it and it became his pastime from the horrors of his home. Finally, after all the abuse and shouting, his father had divorced his mom and he had given them both the house. She had worked hard for his education and finally, during the last few days of her life, she had given him an approval form from NAIS to study there. 

            He left a few days later with a glint in his eye, vowing to return to her with diplomas, certificates and a good job to his mom. He would know five days later that his mom would die in bed, alone in their house. He was half-expecting her to die while he was gone but he forced it all the way down and he never expected her to die so soon. Now, he was truly alone in the world.

                         During the following years of his life, he met Katherine Desoto at NAIS where they had studied for four years. Both had become fast friends and quite surprisingly, lovers, as the days went by. Their relationship went on until their last year at NAIS where he had decided to join the recruitment for the Sphere army. Katherine had wished him well in his choice but it was plainly obvious that she was sad because of his decision.

            He didn't want to remember anymore, it just hurt too much; he went back to his bed, more exhausted with the dream than the last battle.

            The night that followed, his XO knocked at the door. Leon was craning his neck, fresh from sleep, "Come in."

            In came his new XO, a puzzled and confused look on his face, and said, "Knight-Errant Leon, Paladin Jonah Levin has just landed at the spaceport and is requesting to see you immediately, it concerns something very important, or so he says." 

            "Alright, I'll come." His XO left and he silently wondered why the great Paladin Jonah Levin would be doing looking for a knight-errant such as him. He set those thoughts aside and got into the jeep with his XO at the wheel and proceeded to the spaceport.

            "Welcome Paladin Jonah Levin, to Towne." The lieutenant said in monotone, as the 35-year-old paladin walked through the hatch of his dropship, the Freedom. He was lead into the main lobby of the spaceport where Leon was waiting. 

            "Good evening Paladin Jonah Levin, what has brought you here to Towne? As you can see, accommodations aren't the best right now because of the latest Raider assault and we are still in the middle of rebuilding what was destroyed in the fighting." Leon said. "Knight-Errant Leon Diaz; I've heard of your defense of Towne from Sphere Intel, good job. But, I'm not here to reinforce its defense." The last line being said under his breath, he didn't want anyone hearing to know, yet. Leon let his XO take care of refueling and supplying the Freedom as he drove the elder paladin to the field base, the Sphere battalion had erected. 

            On the way, Jonah continued the conversation, "As I was saying, my purpose here is not what you think it is, I will not disillusion you, the Republic has shattered under the weight of so many petty ideas and ambitions, I and the rest of the sixteen other paladins will not let that which we have strived so hard to create, be destroyed by man's base passions. I am on my way to Ingress and then to Deneb Kaitos to establish a base and link up with the current Sphere forces stationed on those two planets as a beachhead for Sphere troops. I need your battalion because they, so far, have been the only military unit which has engaged in combat in this region." Leon's brows crossed, so finally, the Republic was going to wage war. He had hoped against such an event but seeing it stare right at him in the face, he couldn't run away from it, he had to make a choice.

            Jonah felt Leon's anxiety over the recent developments and guessed correctly, "Leon, there is no other way. The Republic has to fight or else we lose everything we hold dear, everything we've worked for will be for naught." Leon thought hard for a moment, thought about the consequences that lay ahead, should he choose to join the already bloody conflict. He would have to kill more people, people just like him, social stature didn't matter anymore, all of them were the same; all of them were human. But, he also thought of the lives that would be lost, a number far greater than the ones he would save if he stayed on Towne to defend it, he thought of all the needless sacrifices that would be made if he refused to fight. 

            There was only one choice he could make, although years later, he wouldn't have hesitated to make it, he felt his stomach knot as he gave his answer to Jonah, "I will go with you and help rebuild the Republic of the Sphere."

            "Very well Leon, you are under my command now. Although I have a reputation for working alone, you'll be in charge of your battalion but overall command rests within my hands. We leave at 0500 hours the day after next, prepare you troops for the journey, no returning here once we leave, not for a very long time." Leon understood what that meant and upon reaching the base, took Jonah to his temporary room and he himself headed to his own room to get some sleep.

            The next day, Leon gathered all of his troops at the grounds just in front of the base and with Jonah by his side, announced his battalion's fate. "All of us here, under orders from Paladin Jonah Levin are to leave Towne and link up with Sphere forces on Ingress and fortify the base there, which will be our HQ from now on, any questions?" Not a single hand was raised, then, one hand flew up into the air. "Yes, Corporal?" 

            "Sir, what about Towne? Who will defend it from Bannson and his red-necked hooligans?" 

            This time, it was Jonah who replied, "The Highlanders have volunteered to station an adequate garrison of troops here. There should be no cause for concern gentleman, I have their word that they will only guard Towne, not use it as a staging platform for strikes against other factions." Jonah's words seemed to appease some of the soldiers but others began grumbling about the Highlanders. 

            Leon stepped in saying, "I will allow people to transfer to the garrison but on the condition that there will be enough personnel and equipment to remain at full battalion strength." He continued, "If there are no other questions, a reminder; say your good-byes today because we leave by tomorrow at exactly 0500. Dismissed!"

            The troops dispersed and Leon escorted Jonah back to the base to prepare for departure. For the rest of the day, techs ran up and down the grounds, checking and rechecking part lists, mechwarriors, aerospace fighter pilots, tank jockeys and the infantry were either preparing their own equipment, saying good bye to their loved ones or taking a last drink of the local stuff at Towne's bars. 

            Leon pored over the list of assignments and noticed most of the volunteer Towne personnel were remaining here, only a few chose to stay. The rest of the battalion was intact, aside from the losses sustained from the Raider's assaults, losses that were replaced by Towne volunteers willing to go along with the rest of the battalion, the most remarkable items was almost half a company's worth of techs and maintenance equipment donated from Towne's own Engineering Corp, a thank you gift from the world. 

            Jonah was not present because he was also busy preparing his own dropship for launch. The jumpship that would be taking them there was a new Sphere model and Leon saw no problems there. Everything else was going according to plan except he didn't know how the planet's governor and all the red tape would respond to a whole battalion of Republic forces landing upon his shores. Leon wasn't inclined to deal with politicos right now, even politicos of an agricultural planet. He picked up the phone and called an old friend who could help him in that aspect.

            In a beach house, near Towne's capital of Port Edward, the phone of Katherine Desoto rang. It was half-past one in the morning, she couldn't think of anyone who would be calling her at this ungodly hour. "Hello? Who is this?" came her groggy assent.

             "Its me, Leon. Listen Kath I need you help in your particular field of expertise." 

            Kath's voice, clearer this time, replied, "Why would Mr. Paladin need my help all of a sudden? Doesn't Mr. Paladin go at everything by himself?" 

            "Kath, please, its important. I need you in my battalion as a political analyst." Leon's voice came over, maintaining its calmness in spite of her sarcasm. 

            "Oh well, you might just get up and leave once whatever you're planning is over, won't you..." She left it hanging, seeing whether he was still the old Leon she knew.

            "I also need you for your capabilities as a military strategist, there, I said it." She was known in NAIS for being one of the best chess players and even then, when chess pieces were switched for battlemechs and vehicles, she quickly learned about the capabilities of each.

            "Alright, o-mighty paladin, I'll be there before you leave. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to get some more sleep before I turn into a walking disaster tomorrow, bye." Both of them put the phone down. Leon went back to his papers and Katherine, back to her bed.

**MacBeth****, Titania continent **

**Tybalt****, Prefecture IV **

**Republic of the Sphere**

**June 29, 3133**

            "Damn the Sphere military! Damn them for being good!" cried Jacob Bannson as he read the report from one of his lieutenants, William "Pyro" Peterson. The report indicated that Peterson's battalion had sustained thirty-five percent losses and no gain whatsoever from the venture into the world of Towne. "Peterson, this is what you have to show for after all the money I spent for the equipment and personnel?!" Jacob bellowed, his brow, now twitching uncontrollably in anger.       "Sir, I don't mean any disrespect but the Sphere battalion stationed there was fanatical in its defense of Towne! It wasn't completely my fault that I lost to them, sir." He instantly regretted saying that at his boss but Pyro tried to keep his composure as Jacob's eyes widened with rage.

             "You fool! That was your responsibility in the first place!" 

            "Yessir…" Pyro lowered his head in dejection and accepted the fact that his skills as a commander were minimal at the most and people like Dagger "Di" Jones, even though she lost a battle, had made the Spirit Cats pay for every mile gained. He, on the other hand, screwed up so badly that he didn't even make the Sphere military pay for much. 

            "Your fate will be decided later, Peterson, get back to your quarters." Peterson left quietly and dragged himself back to his room. 

            Jacob let a tinge of anger surface for a moment, and then quickly squelched it. He had to concentrate on his goals, his dream of conquering the whole Republic would come true, or at least to take revenge on those nobles that have earned his ire. His spies in Towne had reported that the Paladin Jonah Levin was on-planet and the Sphere battalion was mobilizing for some reason his spies hadn't figured out yet. Well, they were cheap operatives and not as skilled as the O5P of the Dragon's Fury. He continued to scheme, and finally decided that maybe a closer staging area would maybe be safer.

            "Dropship _Wiseman_, _Freedom_ and _Lachlan_ are en route to Jumpship _Highwind_. ETA is five minutes until docking." The comm. officer from the Lachlan radioed to Towne ground control, which was monitoring the maneuver. The three orbs were coming in from the surface to a Lagrange point where the jumpship had been stationed. "I hope your boys have practiced their procedures with docking." Katherine commented as she stared into the open space above Towne. 

            To her left was Leon, equally apprehensive, but over an entirely different thing. His absent-minded replied, "I'm sure they have, the Sphere military does that every month when I was still training." 

            "Okay then, whatever you say, o-mighty Knight-Errant..." She retorted, a bit of sarcasm in her voice.

             Paladin Levin, who was seated opposite them finally decided to end the hostilities. "Ms. Desoto, although I will not pretend to know what has happened between you and Knight-Errant Leon, I ask the both of you to stop squabbling because the Republic needs you both, okay."

             Leon was puzzled, "Paladin, why me? I'm sure that Ms. Desoto here was the one who started it." 

            The paladin replied, a bit of humor in his voice, "That may be Knight-Errant but you were acting apathetic to the situation." Jonah left just as the dropships docked with the jumpship. 

            Katherine stood as well and left, "I'll leave you to the lesson the paladin just gave you." With that, she disappeared from view. Leon decided it was time to go as well and unbuckled himself from the seat and swam to the jumpship's hatchway that connected the dropship and jumpship. 

            Leon entered the _Highwind's_ airlock and after gravity had settled in, made is way to the bridge. On the way, a lieutenant gave him a list of where's what and all checked out, all that was left to do was give the order to jump and they would be on their way to Ingress. A turbolift and several doors later, he entered the bridge. 

A short lean man said, "Greetings Knight-Errant Leon Diaz, welcome aboard the _Highwind_." He extended his hand to Leon and he shook it, "I am Captain Aurelius of the _Highwind_, we have been tasked by Paladin Levin to deliver you to Ingress and then to Deneb Kaitos." 

            "Well met Captain." Leon replied.

             Jonah said, still staring at a starmap of Prefecture III and IV, "Since he entered the Sphere navy, Aurelius here has served as my personal jumpship captain, if he isn't on any other military business." He tore his eyes away from the map and faced Leon; "We should get to Ingress in two days, at most. I suggest we all prepare for a long month ahead of us, gentlemen." 

**Base Alpha, Ingress capital city**

**Ingress, Prefecture IV**

**Republic of the Sphere**

**July 1, 3133**

            "Paladin Levin, everyone and everything in the dropships have been deployed. Base Alpha of the Sphere military is ready and awaiting your orders." A major reported more paper in hand with all the technicalities. "The governor's car is also on its way to inspect the base, he would be honored if you would be present during the said event." 

            Jonah, in an even tone replied, "Very well, if that is what it takes for the governor to let me use this planet as a staging area for the Sphere then a little red tape won't matter, dismissed." 

            The major exited and Jonah was left alone with his thoughts. "God, why has it come to this? We've worked so hard for how many years and this happens. It can't go on like this; the Sphere has to be strong in times of peril." With that, he left his office and walked to the concrete parade ground where the rest of the battalion was in dress uniform. He spied Leon among the senior officers, not a very difficult task since the boy was the only one without wrinkles or a mustache. 

            He approached Leon, "Where is your friend? Ms. Desoto?" 

            Leon moved out of the line of officers and replied, "I don't know, I hope she'll be here soon." "The trumpet was sounded, signaling the arrival of the governor and the red tape entourage. "Too late…I trusted her and she does this…" 

            "Don't lose faith yet, see who drove our governor here." Katherine was in her own uniform, welcoming the entourage to the base, and with the smile on the governor's face, Leon knew that she had once again worked her political magic or her bodily magic on him.

             "Well, fine, I guess she is dependable enough." Leon admitted. He proceeded, along with Jonah to meet the governor. 

            "Quite impressive Ms. Desoto, the battalion apparently has enough grace to welcome the planetary governor." The governor, Ted James, was a balding, lean man of fifty-two. He shook both hands of Leon and Jonah, and then continued on into the base's main building. The conference room wherein the meeting was to be held was filled within minutes and without much preamble. 

            Katherine started the meeting, "Ladies and gentlemen, our purpose here on Ingress is to protect its people and the rest of the Prefecture from the conflict that has already started on some worlds. All we ask is to use your planet as the H.Q. of the Sphere forces in Prefecture IV." 

            All at once the politicos began arguing in raised voices and only when James shouted loud enough to be heard above the din did it stop. "Paladin Levin, Ms. Desoto, our planet has suffered enough from the Blakist Jihad, we don't want our own citizens to die in another war." 

            Leon took his turn, "We only ask of your planet and some soldiers from your elite and veteran battle-armor corp." 

            "That is even worse! You will want to implicate our citizens in a war we do not intend to fight without reason! They have not attacked us, we shall do the same." Leon sighed inwardly, the politicos didn't understand, all they wanted was a beachhead, not a staging area for uncalled-for attacks upon neighboring worlds.

            "Governor, I am a Paladin that swears upon the Republic that we will not attack, but just defend your planet, we will remind Prefecture IV that the Republic is still alive. If you do not grant my men what little they have asked for, I will be forced to order you to do so." The governor and the rest of his associates grudgingly agreed and by the end of the day, were back in their cars heading back to the capital. 

            By night, Leon received word that the additional company of battle armor infantry had arrived. He decided to welcome the men personally since they hadn't been told much about their new assignment.

            The company assembled outside the barracks and Leon, along with his XO stood before them. "Your company, now designated Charlie Company will be assigned to the Sphere military presence here on Ingress and will be under the command of Paladin Jonah Levin and wherever we go, you guys go to as well. If there aren't any questions, proceed to your barracks." The rest of the company filed out, but the company CO remained and approached Leon.

            "Knight-Errant, as CO of the company, I am holding you responsible to whatever casualties my men might suffer and I swear, I will beat your sorry ass if anyone of my boys gets killed." 

            Leon, dead serious and looking right into the man's eye said, "I wouldn't have it any other way." The CO saluted then went on to follow his men into the barracks. 

            Leon silently prayed he or the paladin wouldn't have to send these men out to die, but he knew it wasn't possible, not if the Republic was to be reunited. "Damn it all…isn't there any other way?" He walked, alone, back to his quarters. His mind filled with questions he knew not the answers to.

Btw, here are some notes on Mech Warrior: Dark Age:

· The Word of Blake is dead because they were annihilated by Devlin Stone and his followers.

· The Free Worlds League has disbanded into smaller star states.

· Clan Ghost Bear and The Free Rasalhague Republic are now one and have a new name, "Rasalhague Dominion".

· The Outworlds Alliance and the Clan Snow Raven have also united to form the "Raven Alliance".

· The **Swordsworn**faction is made up of former Davion worlds ceded to Devlin Stone when he formed the RotS. They are lead by Duke Aaron Sandoval. The people of this faction believe that it is time to return to House Davion and the Duke Sandoval is trying to take as many worlds back into the Davion banner.

· The **Dragon's Fury **faction is mostly made up of former Kurita worlds also ceded by the Draconis Combine to RotS. They are lead by Duchess Katana Tormark. House Kurita is allied with this faction but has made no move to help the aggressive samurai and her "new" House Kurita.

· The **Steel Wolves **faction is made up of clanners from the Delta Galaxy of Clan Wolf when they joined Devlin Stone's crusade against the Blakists. They are lead by Khan Kal Radick. The Steel Wolves seem determined to subjugate the RotS but their movement has seemed aimless until now.

· The **Spirit Cats **faction is made up of clanners from the Delta Galaxy of Clan Nova Cat when they joined Devlin Stone's coalition forces. They are lead by Galaxy Commander Kev Rosse. They are very spiritual, just like their mother clan, the Nova Cats and have the same will to survive and adapt.

· **Bannson's**** Raiders** is a faction made of supposed modern-day "Robin Hoods" that are lead by Jacob Bannson. They are called power hungry and greedy by the nobility but it is still left to be proven.

· The **Highlanders **are a former mercenary unit that went by the name Kearny Highlanders of North Wind. Their illustrious career landed them as one of the most respected and feared units in the Inner Sphere. They saw action in Devlin Stone's campaign against the Word of Blake and have since decommissioned all but the First Kearny when swords turned to plowshares.

· The **O5P** is the Dragon's Fury's own version of the Internal Security Force used by the Draconis Combine; it is relatively smaller but functions in the same way. 

Author's note: Hello, people. I see that you've read my story. Please read and review. I Hope you enjoyed it.


	2. Enter the Wolf

**The Awakening - Enter the Steel Wolves**

**Wolf Base Theta        **

**Tigress, Prefecture IV**

**Republic of the Sphere**

**July 2, 3133******

            The bid for the attack on Ingress was complete and Kendrick Fetladral had won with a bid of three platoons of elementals, a binary of vehicles, no aerospace assets and a trinary of battlemechs. No one contested the youth for all wanted to see his prowess in combat. 

            Not even Natasha Kerensky had said anything, although her attitude to Fetladral was still calculating and cold. Khan Radick granted him the mission and he was to depart within five hours as the departure of the Sphere military was closing in. The Khan had to admit that the boy was almost like a "Ristar" of his Clan; resilient, cunning and swift. 

            Although Fetladral still had something to learn about the chain-of-command, Kal found himself trusting the boy with a mission more suited to a veteran star captain. _His skill is almost unmatched; I would like to see this young cub fight before I put him in more dangerous surroundings_. An aide walked up to Radick and announced that Kendrick Fetladral was finished with his selection of warriors and that he would be departing shortly. Khan Radick acknowledged the report and walked up to the dropship launch pads as Steel Wolves infantry, vehicles and mecha entered the cavernous dropship hold.

            Kendrick Fetladral stood at 5" 9' and was lean with just a few muscles visible. He wore a standard mechwarrior coolin vest and a neuro-helmet craddled in his left arm. Khan Radick approached him and Fetladral stiffened at the sight of his Khan right in front of him. "Star Captian Fetladral, you know your mission, you must insure me that no one in that base remains alive. Understand that the entire honor of Clan Steel Wolves rests on your first strike".

            Fetladral stiffened further as the full importance of his mission dawned on him but nevertheless, he spoke evenly, "Yes, my Khan, I know what I have to do and I will do it to the fullest capacity" Kendrick forced his mind to accept that these free-births would have to be massacred in their sleep for the Clan to survive.

             He didn't like it, but what was his opinion compared to the survival of all those men and women of all castes around him? Nothing. The answer was simple and direct. He pushed his thoughts aside and saluted to the Khan as he was about to depart. "I shall return with honor and glory for the Clan or not return at all." With that, Fetladral entered the gangway of the dropship and disappeared into the dropship's maw.

            "Are you so sure he will succeed, Khan?" Khan Radick turned to face Natasha Kerensky, the current commander of "The Crusaders" and probably his newest nemesis. "He is only eighteen and barely 3 months out of the Steel Academy and you give him this kind of mission? Khan Radick, are you sure you made the right decision?"

            He turned to her, his eyes concealing the rage that burned at her insolence, "Yes, I made the right decision." His eyes reflected her own, cold and ruthless, "You do not need to question what I choose, Star Colonel, I suggest you attend to your own galaxy." 

She said, "Very well, my khan." Although was angered by his arrogance. _How dare he do this to me? I am Natasha Kerensky of the true Clan Wolf! This dishonor will not go unanswered!_ She turned away and walked back to her own command post.

            The dropship exited the atmosphere of Tigress and blasted for open space, at the Nadir jump point. Kendrick, inside one of several pressurized compartments was planning his attack into the Hampton Plains of Ingress, where the base of the cursed Sphere army was and wondered where should he strike? The base was backed against mountains on two sides and the other sides were kilometers of plains.

             He decided to land in the mountains and then make a short jump with his full force into the base. Yes, that would make the enemy frantic and is objective would be easily accomplished. He settled into his chair and slept for the remainder of the journey.

**Base Alpha, Ingress capital city**

**Ingress, Prefecture IV**

**Republic of the Sphere**

**July 3, 3133******

            Preparations were underway at the Sphere army base and they would all set out for Deneb Kaitos by sunset. Leon strained to see the glaring sun at high noon but knew it was useless because he was wasting time, time that should have been spent discussing politics with Katherine since Deneb Kaitos would have to be won over not only through battle but also through the bureaucracy of the planet. He just didn't feel it right that she should be with him on such a dangerous mission and although he would never admit it to himself or to anyone else, he was worried about her. He shrugged the mood of and began to walk to the mech' bay to inspect the readiness of the mech' company. 

He entered the cavernous warehouse which served as a temporary mechbay and was immediately assaulted by all sorts of unsettling fumes. He wondered how long his mechanics could stand the foul odor. He strolled up to his _Ryoken__ II _and ran his hand along the smooth metal of its feet, pleased that the techies had fully repaired her in time for their launch. 

            He was inspecting the _Spider _next to his mech when he noticed the woman standing behind him. He turned around and his jaw nearly fell of; she was cute beyond belief. Her small face was almost perfectly and so was the rest of her body, he thought. To his further dismay, she was also wearing a tank top and shorts.

             "Good afternoon Knight-Errant, I hope my techies did a good job on your _Ryoken__ II_. The auto cannon shells took them some time to dig out of its shoulder." Leon was still gawking at her, barely able to keep a straight face. "Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Alice Toranaga, the head of the Engineering Corp. on loan from Towne, remember?"

            Leon choked out a response, his own voice sounding hoarse, "Ah, yes, the Towne volunteers. Thank you again for coming along for the ride. How is the rest of the vehicle and mech' company, are they ready for launch later this night?" He smiled at her, attempting to regain his composure.

            She smiled back at him and all his self-discipline evaporated in an instant. "Yessir, almost all of them are ready." She paused to count all the mechs and found all accounted for. But then she said, "Sir, there's one delivery coming in though, an _Arbalest _from the Irece Prefecture, it's for the analyst, a gift from a Nova Cat Star Captain."

            Just then, Katherine walked into the hangar, and started for Alice when she saw Leon. _Uh-oh__, __Leon__'s here, and he's talking with __Alice__, I wonder if she told him about my Arbalest, I hope not. Well, he's seen me, it's too late to walk out of here now._ "Good afternoon Leon, Alice, I trust we'll be leaving on schedule?" Her voice was just a bit on edge, hoping that the inevitable wouldn't come.

            "Katherine, I was just talking to Ms. Toranaga here and she says there's a mech' being delivered here and it's for you, further, it's from a Nova Cat Star Captain." He paused, letting it all sink in, then turned to Alice who was staring at the two, not knowing what to do. "Alice, please excuse me and Ms. Desoto." The head mechanic walked away and didn't look back. Katherine, on the other hand was about ready to sprint for the nearest jeep. "Now, Katherine, please explain why you want to further endanger yourself in an already dangerous situation?" 

            She replied, her voice barely squeaking out of her mouth, "Leon, please listen to me before you say anything else. Star Captain Desoto, my uncle, gave the _Arbalest _to me because when I was at Irece, I helped settle some matters, he tested me out since he wanted to find out if his relatives trained me in piloting a mech'. At first, I didn't want the mech' but he insisted and in the end, I accepted." She was quite meek after that, her eyes looking above Leon's head. 

            Leon noticed that he was enjoying seeing her squirm under his gaze, but he pressed on, disregarding her look. "So you were tested, against an _Osiris_?" He immediately knew it was the wrong thing to say and he could see she was hurt. She turned away from him and he could faintly recognize a sob and reached out to her with his hand. She whirled on him and slapped his hand away. 

            "It wasn't a scout mech', you jerk! I was in an _Arbalest _and I fought a _Shadow Cat _to a standstill in the simulators on Irece. The Star Captain was impressed and he gave an _Arbalest _as a gift, he said "My blood relatives have kept their promise, I give you this mech' to honor mine." I wanted to show that I could compete with you and I will, I don't need your big brother crap!" She stalked off the mech' hangar and ran all the way back to her quarters. 

            Leon felt half the eyes in the hangar on him, he had really screwed up this one. "Back to work people, we have a schedule to meet!" yelled Jonah as he came out of the cockpit of his black _Atlas_. Now Leon saw Jonah walking towards him, _great, first she screams at me, then its his turn_. "Paladin Levin, I didn't know you were there. Forgive me for my misconduct earlier, it was my fault." 

            "At least you know that, now explain to me why I shouldn't demote you because of that." Then his gaze softened and he said, "Never mind about the explanation, I'll settle for us getting out of this mess in one piece." Jonah started walking back to the base proper and motioned for Leon to follow, "I, we need all the able men AND women in this fight, I'm telling you now, what the Star Captain did is none of our concern, guard her with your life but do not let any sort of chauvinism get in the way of your duty, if she wants to volunteer, then let her. Do you understand that?" 

            Leon didn't know what else he could say, he was lucky to retain what he still had. "Yes Paladin"

            "Good, now go back to our preparations and get this battalion ready before sunset. I'll be in my quarters if you need me." With that, the paladin walked into the afternoon sun and back to base. 

**Beta Drop Point, ****Hilarium****Mountains******

**Ingress, Prefecture IV**

**Republic of the Sphere**

**July 3, 3133******

            _Greyhound_, a _Talon_-class dropship landed into the mountain ranges just south of the Sphere base. Kendrick was inspecting his troops as they were off-loaded into the dusty surface of the plateau. He watched as his own _Madcat__ III _was unloaded, as well as the rest of the binary of battlemechs he brought along. When all of the mechs were assembled, he conntacted the dropship bridge, "This is Star Captain Fetladral, move out in T-minus thirty minutes, your orders are clear, understood?" The pilot acknowledged the command and proceeded to his duties. 

            "Star Captain, we are ready to move out on your command, the binary is ready to move out." Kendrick knew it was his XO, Vellin in his own _Black Hawk_, reporting. 

            "Then let us do so, we have to catch the Sphere army before they leave." Kendrick signaled his star to move out and so did Vellin. The trek was uneventful and Kendrick found himself staring into the undulating plains, wondering how would the coming battle end and why, of all the experienced Star Captains in the touman, was he selected for this mission? Now is not the time to question, now is the time to focus on the upcoming struggle. _Silence yourself Fetladral_! He marched his binary into the setting sun. 

            They reached the outskirts of the base an hour later and Kendrick ordered all the mechs at minimal power, all were waiting in ambush. The rest of the Steel Wolves forces were arrayed and within striking distance, concealed behind the grassy plains, even the Behemoth II was fully covered. Kendrick wanted to call the ambush right then and there but he knew that if he did, it would be premature and the Sphere army might be able to mount a defensible position. 

            The sunset seemed to approach them quicker than Kendrick could imagine. The ambush was set and he was about to spring it. "Alpha Wolf, go!" He gave the signal and the Wolf Pack descended onto the unsuspecting base.

            Darren Westerson was on tower-watch duty and he didn't like it at all. "Dang, there's nothing going on in here, just like home in that agro farm!" He yawned and leaned onto the tower's railings, just in time to see a brown Behemoth II fire a hail of missiles onto the Base's administrative building, and then he saw more brown specks appear from the tall grass. "This is Westerson, I have unidentified vehicles and infantry coming in from the south! Alert the base!" His voice was panicked as he struggled to keep his hands on the comm. and not on his rifle trigger, the reply came, panicked like he was. He didn't bother to hear the rest of the reply; he ran into the inferno and started firing.

            Leon was racing across the parade grounds as several explosions rocked his feat, _Damn it! We didn't suspect the Steel Wolves to interfere!_ He was disturbed from the last of the paper work and ran out side to see a brown Scimitar Mk-II fire its SRMs at the barracks and saw a few bodies fly into the air. He ran into the hangar and boarded his _Ryoken__ II_. All the lights were green and he ran the mech outside and right into a_ Black Hawk_. 

            Leon halted abruptly and fired his four med-lasers at the opposing mech, scoring three hits to the right side, melted armor running in rivulets down the brown surface. The other mech tried to punch the _Ryoken__ II _in return and although Leon was quick, he received a glancing blow and nearly lost the balance of his mech'. 

            The _Black Hawk _fired its own four med-lasers and Leon felt the heat spike yellow, he gulped in the hot air and charged the mech, the _Ryoken__ II's_ shoulders made contact with the head of the other mech, smashing the glass shield of the cockpit. The pilot was still alive because at the next moment, the _Black Hawk _ignited its jump jets and lifted itself away from the _Ryoken__ II_.

            Leon started his mech forward as the brown Steel Wolves mech' fired its laser at him again. Leon felt more heat wash over him, "Cursed mech! Standstill!" he gulped in more air and fired his left LRM rack. He saw missiles streak into the torso of the _Black Hawk_, ripping armor panels and the softer internal structure into bits as the mech back-pedaled to stay upright. 

            The brown mech tried to stay upright but two more medium lasers carved into its right leg actuator melting it in place forever. The mech couldn't move and Leon saw the pilot eject from his immobile machine. 

            Elsewhere in the base, Katherine turned her _Arbalest _to face two Scimitars making a run for the dropships, she fired both of her arm-mounted medium lasers at them. The first one scored a deep gash in the side of the hover vehicle; the other laser went wide and threw soil onto the second one. The two were about to make a run for it when they saw a _Forestry MOD _come into view, the opposing mech charged Katherine.

             Katherine was in a panic as she heard the menacing buzz saw of the other mech over the din of her LRMs launching themselves at her assailant. Ten of the twenty LRMs impacted all over the mech, and the counter force of the explosions sent the saw into the side of a building, throwing off the aim of the mech'. 

            The _Forestry Mech_ corrected its course only to see Katherine's _Arbalest_ running towards it and in an instant, the white and blue _Arbalest_ had cupped a hand around the back of the bulbous cockpit of the enemy mech'. The other arm had its mounted medium laser leveled at the cockpit, ready to crack it open.

            The pilot of the opposing mech' made a gamble and tried to send the saw into the midsection of the _Arbalest_ off, but before the saw even reached the waist of her mech, the _Forestry Mech's_ cockpit was crushed. Katherine could see blood and glass intermingle in her mech's hands as the now lifeless hulk fell to its knees and crashed into the ferrocrete with a loud thud. She hated herself for doing that, but shook it off as she scanned her surroundings for anymore signs of life.

            Kendrick moved easily through the burning wreckage of his latest target, a _DI Schmitt_ tank, stepping over the lifeless bodies of its escorting battle armor. Kendrick liked his anti-infantry weapons, it gave him an edge in this battle and it had accounted for over a platoon's worth of kills. He side-stepped a slumped form of a _Koshi_ and made his way to the dropships where the last of the defenders were holed-in. 

            He was joined by five elementals, hitching a ride on the hand-holds of his mech ready to pounce on a target at a moment's notice. He received status reports from his entire vehicle binary, which was bad, since the Sphere battle armor had swarmed one whole star and utterly destroyed one of the Behemoth IIs and two Condor hover tanks before they could be stopped. His infantry had been cut by at least two dozen men from the fighting as well. 

            He ran his mech forward until he rounded a corner and saw the furious exchange of energy and ammunition based weaponry. His XO was nowhere to be seen and although his mech forces had only been reduced by three mechs and their enemy by the same number, things were getting out of hand. He formed up on the other star that was short by one mech and proceeded to the dropships to kill the remaining freebirths.

Hi again guys! I hope you like the latest installment of my story. Btw, this chapter isn't finished yet but I want some reviews on this part. Thanks! Peace out.


	3. Enter the Wolf : Final Breath

Author Warning here: Since my laptop got screwed, I lost my microsoft word and am now typing in Word Pad. Thank you all for  
your support in the writing of this fanfic. On to the continuation of "The Awakening-Enter the Wolf"  
The Awakening - Enter The WOlf (part 2)  
  
"What have I done?" Katherine said, letting go of the controls for a moment as she looked at her shaking hands. "I didn't mean to crush it outright..." She was still shaking, looking at the charred remains of the base complexes before her. And that of the Forestry MOD that was before her, its head missing.   
  
"This is war, Katherine. You can't change it, you can't ignore it and it'll try its best to change us all into monsters but you've got to be strong." Leon's battered Ryoken II came from the area of the mech hangar. Its armor was ripped in half a dozen places and the myomer muscle could be seen in holes that were visible around both arms. "I've been in battle since the Raider's attack on Towne and I've seen what people at war can do to each other. It's not pleasant but you have to accept it."  
  
Leon was about to say more to Katherine, but he paused as he received a transmission from Jonah, "Leon, get down here quickly, the majority of the Steel Wolves have engaged us two clicks away from the base's starport. They don't seem to want us to leave this rock, hurry!" The face of the paladin disappeared, and with that, Leon forgot about the rest of his speech to Katherine.   
  
"Kath, we gotta move out, Jonah and the surviving members of the battalion are at the starport!" He turned the cockpit to face her mech, then ran at top speed towards the starport.   
  
All Jonah could see was red.   
  
Red from the lasers, red from the paint of the Steel Wolves' mechs and red from the battlefield itself as the bodycount of the Sphere infantry rose.   
  
He tried to assess the situation but it was no use, because the 'Wolves almost had them completely surrounded, and the Sphere mechs were taking murderous fire from their counterparts across the field.  
  
The remains of vehicles could be seen strewn around in a lazy arc around the Sphere line where the defenders had entrenched themselves, with SRM teams and Hauberk Battle Armor firing at a near constant rate from the blasted rubble of several AA bunkers.   
  
The Wolves, however, paid a heavy price for each step and a Legionnaire blossomed into fire as it took one too many hits from a pair of Marksman tanks moving amongst the infantry. Still, the Steel Wolves advanced and the defenders had to give up ground to stay alive.   
  
Katherine had matched the speed of Leon's Ryoken II and open her channel to him again.   
  
"Ok, I don't have any choice in the matter anyway. But promise me one thing..." She paused, as if unsure if he would accept it in the middle of a battle.  
  
"What would that be?" he replied, distracted by the turn of events.  
  
"That we'll both come out of this alive." She said it in a hushed tone, her voice barely audible.  
  
That snapped Leon out of his concentration. He sensed her fear and anxiety and said, "I promise." With that, they entered the starport's dropship area.  
  
The location was a rectangular one-by-one click area that had been cleared of the grassy plains. In place were three gantries for dropships in the center, a control tower and airfield to the west and the main base to the east.   
  
Leon and Katherine were about 800 meters away from the battle but they could see all the action as death consumed both Spheroid and Clanner alike. He toggled the comm. to the paladin, "Jonah, I'm flanking the Wolves to on the right and I got the Schmitt lance on the left, I need you to pull back to within 300 meters of the dropships." He said this while moving his mech and that of Katherine's to the 8 o'clock position relative to the Steel Wolves' advancing line.   
  
"I got that Leon, I hope the crab bites the wolf this time." Jonah replied and his black Atlas, now bearing a host of new scars and holes of its own, started to back-pedal as fast as he could, firing his PPC at an over-eager Demon medium tank, melting armor on the flank of the vehicle.  
  
The other units with him moved back, grudgingly giving up ground as units from other areas began to show up and join their comrades at the dropship gantries, lending their own, if somewhat reduced firepower against the enemy.   
  
Kendrick eyed the movements suspiciously as he scored a hit on the damnable black Atlas which had brought down three of his own mechwarriors but still refused to be killed, even though it was the third time Kendrick had scored a hit with an ER Large Laser, melting more armor off the giant's torso.   
  
He was confident that his unit would crush the freebirths this day but this was getting too easy. After ten minutes of maneuvering and intense action on both sides, the enemy was falling back, the mechs covering their infantry and vehicles while the war machines themselves moved back.  
  
"Look at them, running from the true strength of the pack!" A Wolf tanker commented.   
  
"We shall bite their necks and swing them around until they are all dead!" Howled a mechwarrior.  
  
"For the glory of the Steel Wolves!" Cried another.  
  
When the reinforcements arrived, they were too few. Another Marksman, a JESS missile carrier and two squads of Purifier Battle Armor were hardly giving the Sphere army a winning edge and it dawned on him that his men, driven by the smell of an injured prey, were pursuing the remaining forces at flank speed, unaware of the danger that lay in wait.  
  
"All Sphere units, halt withdrawal upon reaching the 300 meter line and reform the line!" Jonah barked, swiveling the upper torso of the Atlas to track other eager Wolves as he continued to back-pedal his mech.   
  
His forces scrambled to obey his orders.  
  
About 800 meters away, two mechs were lurking furtively.  
  
"Leon, what's your plan?" Katherine asked anxiously as her Arbalest peeked around the corner, the backs of the Steel Wolves mechs and vehicles could be seen in the distance.   
  
"Hold on, in ten seconds, you and me will come form the west flank and a lance of DI Schmitts from the base to the east will converge on the rear of the Steel Wolves' line."   
  
"The rest is up to Paladin Levin and my battalion." He stared at her sweat-stained face on the comm. "You got that, Kath?"  
  
"Yeah, and although it is the craziest thing I've ever done since I dated you, I'm all for it."  
  
Leon gave pause, "Was I that bad?!" His voice full of mock indignity.  
  
"I'm not answering that until the end of the battle." She chuckled slightly and proceeded to move her Arbalest alongside the Ryoken II.   
  
"Ohh, fine." He left the joke at that and gave the order, "Immolate the Wolves!"   
  
At his order, the four tanks powered up and started a diagonal slash, pouring barrage after barrage of LRMs and AC 10 rounds into the backs of the Steel Wolves. An Arbalest went up in a geyser of flame as its weak rear armor was shredded by two flights of LRMs followed by salvo after salvo of autocannon fire.   
  
"All Steel Wolves forces, this is a trap! Halt the advance and reinforce the rear!" Kendrick said into his comm., finally figuring out the plans of the Sphere army.   
  
It was too late though, all around him hell opened its fiery maw.   
  
Some of the 'Wolves reacted with the spirit of the pack, lead by a Black Lanner-C firing its six ER medium lasers at the same time, scarring the lead DI along the front and flanks.   
  
Another DI was ambushed by a group of Cavalier battle armor which harrased the fast tank with flamers and lasers, dividing it's attention between the deadly infantry and the deadlier mechs and vehicles.  
  
Leon's ambush partly worked, although two DIs were crippled by the 'Wolves fast response, they had taken out two mechs and three vehicles, besides damaging the morale of the enemy troops.  
  
Kendrick was proud of the response time of his men, but nevertheless, the pincer move had partly caught him off-guard because he had expected a slash from the flanks, or even a last stand that was common to some suicidal Inner Sphere units in the past.  
  
The Steel Wolves were completely surrounded.  
  
Further into the battle...  
  
A formation of Demons and Condors came apart as the Sphere battalion charged into the fray, breaking the enemy line at several points.  
  
A Sphere Agro MOD-B pitched to the side as an ammunition explosion took out the entire right arm, along with most of the external and internal structures of the mech on that side. The Shadow Cat which had killed it came from behind the flaming wreck, proceeding to its next target of opportunity.  
  
Infantry clashed on both sides as an Elemental threw its smaller cousin, a Hauberk, to the ground, rendering the pilot inside the battle armor unconcious.  
  
"Jump, Terin!" Kendrick shouted as he saw the young battlemech pilot swinging his arms in vain as several Gnomes latched on to him, clinging on long enough to kill the pilot. One made a bold move and jumped his battle armor away from the torso.   
  
When the jump had carried him high enough, the Gnome let loose with his heavy machine gun, the metal slugs tearing right through the cockpit of the Koshi.  
  
The light mech staggered and fell while the Gnomes jumped away from the "dead" mech. Steel Wolf infantry, on the other hand, caught two Gnomes in a cross-fire, killing the Sphere units instantly.  
  
Kendrick realized that long range weapons would be of no use now, being almost surrounded by attacking forces from both the front and rear. He decided to make his enemy pay dearly before it was time to start falling back.  
  
He moved his Madcat III in closer and fired his LRMs at the strongest point of the battalion, the black Atlas. The remains of his star fired their own long range weaponry as the black machine as it reeled under the desperate assault of the Wolves.  
  
Jonah tried his best to concentrate on the fighting as his Atlas was pounded with wave after wave of enemy fire.   
  
He belatedly noticed that the star lead by the Madcat III had decided to go for him.   
  
A quick glance at his armor indicator told him his Atlas would not survive the next volley when it came for him  
  
His mind wrestled with the idea of leaving his mech behind. Would it be self-preservation or self-sacrifice? Jonah asked himself. Time seemed to slow as he tried to move his Atlas in front of the Steel Wolves in a final sacrifice for his men. Before he could complete the maneuver, his mind was transported elsewhere...  
  
Flash...  
  
He was on a cliff by a sea, torrents of rain were splashing against his skin. He looked upon the sea as it rose to swallow all the land.  
  
Flash...  
  
He was by a lakeside, he saw a young man in a boat, rowing his way to the middle of the lake. A hand flashed from the water, a glittering sword in hand. As the paladin squinted, he saw that the sword was in fact, a katana.  
  
Flash...  
  
Jonah witnessed a mech tearing through an assault battalion, the strangest thing was it was kicking out and punching all the other mechs into scrap...  
  
Flash...  
  
Jonah saw that he was in the cockpit of his Atlas again. The battle still raged around him.   
  
He tried to regain his mental faculties when he saw a black Ryoken II come into view, its LBX 10s spitting out fire at two of the Steel Wolf mechs.   
  
A blue and white Arbalest joined the fray, its medium lasers and LRMs withering away the armor of a Black Hawk at an alarming rate.   
  
For once, fate had saved Jonah. He thought it a fitting fate that these young people, possibly the only hope for the young Republic, would save an old relic like him. He would have found the thought amusing and would have laughed about it, but it was neither the time nor place.  
  
"Good to see your still alive, old man!" Leon called out all the while, facing off against the Madcat III he had antagonized.  
  
He had to admit that when the paladin's Atlas slumped in place, he almost died. Leon was thankful that his mentor was still alive and kicking.  
  
Jonah smiled weakly under his neurohelmet, "This old man can still fight and is still your 'superior'!"  
  
The Atlas' first action upon waking was to punch a Koshi that had gotten too close. The metal-shod fist slammed into the rear of the enemy mech, making it stagger then fall over from the loss of balance.   
  
Although the pilot had regained control of his downed mech, Jonah had unleashed the last of his Heavy Gauss slugs, while the twin ER PPCs spat out azure lightning.   
  
The Koshi never got up because its arms were sundered from its body by the PPCs and its crotch had caved in, with help from the sheer kinetic force of the Heavy Gauss slug.   
  
"That's it for me, I'm pulling out before any other puppies appear." Jonah's Atlas moved away slowly, not wanting to attract attention as some of the Sphere units gave it covering fire.  
  
Leon had finally dropped one of the cursed Madcat III's arms, but in turn, had lost more than half his over-all armor to the skilled Wolf pilot. The hunched mechs had squared away and Leon was about ready to release his remaining rounds into the brown mech but stayed his hand as the Madcat III opened its external speakers and began to speak.  
  
"I, Star Captain Kendrick of the Steel Wolves, declare a Trial of Possesion for all units on the battlefield, Republic and Steel Wolf. Do you accept?"   
  
Jonah was quite stunned that the enemy, which had been bent on mopping the field with the Sphere army, was considering a Trial of Possesion.   
  
That was until he took look at the HUD and saw the remaining forces.   
  
While the Wolves had nine mechs left, five vehicles, and a point of Elementals left. The Sphere army, on the other hand; had almost a company of thei own vehicles, seven mechs and a mixed platoon of battle armor.   
  
The odds were not quite in the Sphere's favor but neither were they were they in the Steel Wolves, Jonah thought.   
  
It has to be decided by a Trial, or the victory would be too costly for either side.  
  
Jonah was about to signal the acceptance of the challenge, when Leon overtook him and answered through his own external speakers.  
  
"I, Knight-Errant Leon Diaz of the Repulic of the Sphere battalion, accept your challenge!"   
  
Kendrick was puzzled by the answer, was the leader of this battalion the only one who could answer? The answer was obvious, the black Atlas looked more like a pile of spare parts than a functional battlemech.   
  
The rest of the other mechs on either side were either littering the base in their death poses, or barely standing at all.   
  
The Star Captain replied, "Then let us begin!" His Madcat III marched to a clear patch of land and was followed shortly by the hunched Stormcrow II of Leon.  
  
The forces of the Steel Wolves formed up on the west side of the base, while the Sphere units formed ranks on the east side of the base.   
  
Some of the Sphere units were new an acctual Trial taking place and many were on the edge of their seats, just watching the two mechs get ready.  
  
In her Arbalest, Katherine silently mouthed a prayer to whatever gods may be to protect Leon.  
  
"Let the Trial of Possesion begin!" Cried the XO of the Steel Wolves.  
  
Kendrick opened up with two ER Large Lasers but Leon side-stepped his Stormcrow II in an attepmt to evade both. Leon was partly successful and one beam struck his battered Stormcrow II's left shoulder.  
  
The Sphere mech countered as Leon sent two LBX-10 rounds to the torso of the Madcat III, shattering half the remaining armor on both left and right torso.  
  
The two mechs circled each other, judging when the time to strike was right. Leon heard Kendrick's voice over   
"Very good, Knight-Errant", Kendrick said to himself, "but not good enough!"  
  
The Madcat III launched its remaining 30 LRMs at the moving Stormcrow II. Explosions rippled all along the Sphere mech as it tried to stay upright despite the fearsome damage it was sustaining.  
  
Leon gave the controls all the effort he could muster, but it was no use. The Stormcrow II sank to its knees and was now left at the mercy of the medium mech's small and medium ER lasers.   
  
Kendrick now wore a feral smile as he closed his mech in for the kill, "This is for the glory and honour of the Steel Wolves!" he bellowed as the Madcat III launched an alpha strike at the Stormcrow II, regardless of serveral failing heat sinks in his mech.  
  
Leon braced himself as his mech was pummeled by the furious assault. Both of his arms had been torn off and his LRM racks were virtually exhausted from the earlier slugfest. Even his LBX 10 was out of ammunition. Only 3 ER medium lasers remained.  
  
He resigned himself to fate and fired the lasers, and executed his last strike.  
  
Kendrick was surprised when the armless mech stood again on its two feet and fired three ER medium lasers at him, two went into his right leg, causing the actuator to melt in place while the second one flensed armor off his already battered torso.  
  
He decided on the virtues of continuous movement but it was too late, he could see the Stormcrow II's visage quickly looming before him.  
  
Leon braced himself for the impact he knew would come and with the Madcat III only scant meters away from becoming scrap, he didn't have to wait long.   
  
The two mechs met with the scream of twisting and breaking metal. The Madcat III's left flank crumpled under the vicious blow while the Stormcrow II's whole right torso was an unrecognizable pile of twisted metal. Both mechs fell down and skidded onto the ferrocrete while a trail of metal and broken parts mad known their path.   
  
Kendrick's ears didn't hurt, they were screaming for him to just die and be over with the horrible sound of metal screaching against the ground. he couldn't handle much more of the invisible banshee singing in his ears and propmtly lost conciousness.  
  
"God! Leon! What did you do?!" Katherine wailed as she rushed her Arbalest to the side of the downed Sphere mech.  
  
She could see that there wasn't one part of his mech which diidn't seem to be twisted or missing. Even the rollbars on his cockpit were possed every which way except the way they were meant to be.   
  
"Leon?!" She called out to him on her external speakers, "Answer me, Leon!" She called out again.  
  
She suddenly caught some movement from the cockpit and he was waving her mech away from his stricken mech. She moved her Arbalest out of the way and his Stormcrow II rose to its feet, albeit, more shaky than normal, but standing nonetheless.  
  
Katherine was amazed that the heavy mech could withstand that much punishment and still stand up. She didn't care though, all she was thinking of was that Leon was safe and although his mech looked like it was better suited to a scrapyard, it would live along with its young pilot.  
  
Leon could feel Katherine's concern radiating from her light mech, and as much as he wanted to celebrate, the Trial wasn't officially over yet.  
  
"Katherine, I'm getting out of my mech, I'd appreciate it if you tell the troops to stay calm." He said, with a weary voice.   
  
Katherine paused, the replied, "Alright, but if things get ugly, those men can't take much more pounding." She cautioned him.  
  
Then she reminded herself that clanners were a far cry from being tricksters and conn-men of the Inner Sphere, they would uphold their end of the Trial like true Clansmen.  
  
Leon clambered out of his mech as soon as the computer shut his mech down. He quickly climbed down to the ground and started to walk towards the downed Madcat III.  
  
He could see a point of elementals extracting their leader from the ruined mech, using their battle claws to pry away metal. They worked as fast as they could and in moments, the unmoving body of Kendrick Fetladral was pulled out of the twisted metal.  
  
Upon reaching the slumped form of the Madcat III, Leon could see the clan leader was stirring from unconciousness. He was about to approach the man but two burly elementals stood in his way.   
  
One of them spoke, "Spheroid, do not come any closer, the star captain does not want to see you." His partner was silent but the arm-mounted micro laser on his forearm was a sure warning of what was to come if Leon didn't back off.  
  
Kendrick could faintly hear the exchange and with much effort, raised himself from his prone position. The pain was there and he could feel it, but he didn't want to show his enemy any kind of weakness, even at this state of health.  
  
"I gave no such order, Devon, let him through." Kendrick said, the pain barely kept in check by his discipline.  
  
The elemental hesitated for a second, then moved back to let Leon through.  
  
Kendrick straightened himself up before the Sphere officer standing before him, choosing to stand as equals, rather than an invalid.  
  
"Knight-Errant Diaz, you have fought well against me and have defeated me in a Trial of Possesion, I acknowledge my defeat and obey the conditions we have agreed on."   
  
He choked back his remaining pride, turned to his fellow warriors and declared in a nearly hoarse voice, "All units of the Steel wolves in the battle are honor-bound to become bondsmen to this battalion of the Republic of the Sphere."  
  
He paused, then contiuned, "Any and all violators will be stripped of rank and personally executed by myself."  
  
He knew that it was a tense moment when he announced to his troops that they would all become bondsmen and bondswomen of the Sphere freebirths.   
  
He was ready to deflect any attacks which came to him, although his survival depended on the other clanners accpeting the results with honour and grace.   
  
The tension was thicker than the air, and was seeping into everyone's nerves. No one had noticably moved, then Devon started to walk towards Leon, the elemental's long strides carrying him right in front of the Knight-Errant.  
  
Then the elemental went on one bended knee and accepted the honour-bound agreement in a loud voice, "I, Elemental Devon accept this honour-bound agreement." He bowed to Leon and the young man returned the bow with as much courtesy to the clanner.  
  
Leon could hardly beleive his eyes, a clan elemental, the mightiest of Kerensky's warriors among the clans, had just bowed to him and sworn his feealty to the young man. Leon had returned the bow as a reflex but he was still puzzled about the other's reactions to their actions, he looked around and found his answer.  
  
Paladin Levin had seen enemies become friends during the days of the Blakist jihad but never had he seen clanners act this way, he wasn't born during the clan invasion. One by one, the warriors of Clan Steel Wolves had bended on one knee and had laid down their weapons and swore their oath as bondsmen.  
  
he thought it was best to speak now, before any of the grunts did something rash.  
  
"I, Paladin Jonah Levin accept all bondsmen of Clan Steel Wolves into this Republic of the Sphere battalion."  
  
The clanners stood up and then wondered what would happen next, it would all be up to their leaders.  
  
Those same two leaders had watched the event unfold with interest and relief and now, Leon thought it best to let both forces rest after the battle.  
  
Leon spoke up, and Kendrick turned his tired face once more upon his former enemy, "You must rest now, Star Captain Kendrick. We shall discuss more when you're feeling better."   
  
The clanner bowed ever so slightly and laid down on the strecher he previously laid in. The Steel Wolves infantry carried him to the field hospital for treatment, along with everyone else.  
  
Leon turned to the direction of his men and realized that the event had a mixed impact on his men, though they respected the Steel Wolves as enemies, it would be hard to reconcile both parties, he was going to need Kendrick if he was to succeed.  
  
Katherine was beside him a moment later, "It'll be morning soon, wouldn't a little breakfast be in order?" She didn't wait for his answer and dragged him to a waiting jeep that would take them back to the base complexes.  
  
Leon didn't prtoest that much, only citing that Jonah and the others needed to hammer out a plan for the next leg of the campaign. After that, he got into the jeep and seated himself alogside Katherine.  
  
They both rode in silence and Katherine was thinking if the future would bring more death and destruction to her life. She turned to face Leon, wanting to ask him that same question.   
  
She immediately saw he was asleep and a small smile crept upon her lips, she hadn't seen him sleep in along time, and his light breathing brought with it, a sense of innocence around him.  
  
She brushed some hair out of his face and turned to the driver, asking him to head for the officer's quarters.   
  
Upon reaching the squat building, she awoke Leon and despite his sleepy protests, she lead him to his room and shoved him into the bed, and closed the door.   
  
Leon wanted to protest but sleep had its way and he was soon before his past again.  
  
Ok, time for the author's notes:   
  
1. I'm so sorry about the mix up with Kendrick's age and name. Kendrick has yet to earn his blood name and he is around 24, not 18. Thank you TNG for pointing that out.  
  
2. Someone tell me if I did the whole Trial of Possesion (the aftermath of the battle) right.  
  
3. If anyone, and I mean, ANYONE can give me specks on the Ryoken II and other MW:DA mechs, please give it to me! I beg you!  
  
4. Thank you for all the reviews (yay! 3 guys!) and please review them more. :)  
  
5. Expect a higher turn over rate for my fic, (damn, 2 months and nothing written). 


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